Hempstead, NY - For the third straight year the women's soccer program has captured the Former Athlete Participation Challenge and won a $5,000 prize for their team. The program saw a remarkable 72% of their alumnae make a gift.

"I am really proud of our alumnae," said Head Women's Soccer Coach Simon Riddiough. "To have this kind of support from our former athletes is great. This demonstrates that our alumnae care about the future of our team and I am glad that nearly all of them stepped up to give back to our program."

The Challenge featured two new winners for the Increase Competition and the Young Alumni competition. Baseball captured the Increase Competition and women's golf won the Young Alumni Competition, both earning prizes of $2,500.

This past season, the baseball program started their winning ways by setting a school record for wins. First year Head Coach John Russo carried this momentum into the fundraising arm increasing the number of baseball alumni giving by 17% and winning the Increase Competition.

"I would just like to take a moment, on behalf of myself and the entire team, and thank everyone for the tremendous support this season," Russo said. "You have no idea how much it meant to myself and the team to know that you are supporting us."

In the newly formed Young Alumni Competition women's golf captured the top spot, hanging on in the last week to defeat softball and volleyball. Led by a young alumnus, Maren Crowley '08, the former women's golfers had 29% of their alumni from the last 10 years make a gift.

"The support of our Alumnae is great," said Coach Crowley. "Having them start giving now, especially considering how young our program is, will form a solid foundation for the future of our program."

In all, more than 540 former athletes made a contribution to support today's Hofstra student-athletes. To join the Pride Club and make a difference please click here.

For more information on the Former Athlete Participation Challenge, please see below.

Final Participation Competition

1. Women's Soccer - 864 points -$5,000 first place prize

2. Men's Lacrosse - 180 points

3. Baseball - 177 points

4. Softball - 171 points

5. Women's Lacrosse - 166 points

Final Increase Competition

1. Baseball - $2,500 first place prize

2. Golf

3. Field Hockey

4. Women's Tennis

5. Wrestling

Final Young Alumni Competition

1. Women's Golf - $2,500 first place prize

2. Softball - $1,500 second place prize

3. Volleyball - $1,000 third place prize

4. Men's Lacrosse

5. Women's Lacrosse

Information about the Challenge:

Participation Competition

Each Hofstra Athletics team recruits as many of their former athletes to join the Pride Club and give a gift of $25 or more. The team with the most points will win the competition and earn a $5,000 gift to their program.

How the Scoring Works: The percentage of alumni giving will be multiplied by 1000. Example: 100 former-athletes who have made a gift of $25 or more out of 500 former-athletes= .2x1000 = 200 points. As an added bonus an additional two points can be earned for each gift made online by a former athlete between now and May 31.

Increase Competition

The team with the greatest percentage increase of former athletes giving from last year to this year will win a $2,500 prize. Last year, Men's Lacrosse narrowly edged out Women's Lacrosse, winning by less than 1%, to capture the prize.

Young Alumni Competition

Each team will compete for the highest percentage of its own young alumni joining the Pride Club. A young alumnus is someone who graduated between 2002 and 2011. The team with the highest percentage will win $2,500, with second place receiving $1,500 and third place earning $1,000.